Europa League Draw: Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace to learn last-16 opponents
The europa league draw takes place Friday at 12 p. m. ET, when 16 teams in the competition will learn their last-16 opponents; the Conference League draw follows at 1 p. m. ET, with 16 teams left and three Premier League clubs split across the two competitions.
Europa League Draw set for 12 p. m. ET
Aston Villa will learn whether they face Celta Vigo or Lille in the last 16, while Nottingham Forest will be drawn against Real Betis or Midtjylland. Crystal Palace will discover whether they face Mainz or AEK Larnaca in the Conference League last 16.
Opponent lists narrowed to two possibilities
Every team's potential opponents for the next round has already been narrowed down to two possibilities. With the midweek play-offs concluding, English teams know they will face one of two opponents but do not know their individual pathways through the bracket until the draws are made.
Seedings and match rules ahead of Friday's draws
Teams can be drawn against opponents from their own country and against sides they have already faced in the competition. Sides that did not require a play-off will be seeded, meaning they get to play the second leg of their last-16 ties at home. Seeded (finished top eight in the league phase) is the classification used for those teams.
Play-off results that set up potential last-16 ties
Celta Vigo beat PAOK 3-1 on aggregate, winning 1-0 in their Europa League play-off second leg. Lille bounced back from losing the first leg to win 2-0 at Red Star Belgrade. Robbie Keane's Ferencvaros overturned a one-goal first-leg deficit to win 2-0 at home and knock out Ludogorets Razgrad. Despite losing 1-0 at home to Celtic, Stuttgart also went through 4-2 on aggregate.
English matchups and schedule milestones
The earliest two English teams could meet is the quarter-finals, where Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest could be drawn on a collision course. Crystal Palace do not have any potential English opponents in the Conference League. The round-of-16 match schedule will be available Friday evening; the quarter-final match schedule will be confirmed on March 19, while the semi-final schedule will be communicated on April 16.
Live coverage of the draws will be available on websites and apps during the scheduled windows. The next confirmed milestones are the draws at 12 p. m. ET for the Europa League and 1 p. m. ET for the Conference League, followed by the publication of the round-of-16 match schedule on Friday evening.
